1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of medical devices, and more particularly to a medical guide wire torque device used for grasping and maneuvering guidewires during medical procedures.
2. The Relevant Technology
A number of medical procedures have been developed which include the introduction and manipulation of a medical guidewire into a patient. One example of such a procedure is angioplasty, where a guidewire is inserted via a vascular access needle into the femoral artery and subsequently manipulated at the proximal end of the guidewire by a torque so as to advance a distal end through a patient's arterial tree to a predetermined destination. Typically, a catheter, balloon or stent is then fed over the guidewire into the desired area to perform the desired medical procedure. Guidewires are also used in other medical applications in a similar manner.
The insertion and manipulation of guidewires is often a difficult and precise process. As the guidewire is negotiated through a patient's vessels or other tubular structures inside the body, the guidewire is controlled completely by manipulating the proximal end of the guidewire. In order to facilitate this manipulation, a torque device is fixed to the proximal end of the guidewire by threading or other means of attachment and the operator manipulates the guidewire by rotating or otherwise manipulating the torque device.
When using such torque devices, the operator relies on direct visualization of the wire using fluoroscopy or the like along with tactile feedback from the guidewire. In many instances, the tactile feedback supplied to the guidewire as the wire is guided as far as three or four feet within the vascular system of a patient is essential as an operator selects various passages, traverses areas where blocking or narrowing exist, and/or probes lesions.
One difficulty with the torque devices currently used in the art is that they focus on various means for reliably affixing the guidewire to the torque device, but fail to optimally or efficiently assist in providing an operator with the desired ability to manipulate the guidewire.
Further, many known torque devices have only a simplistic cylindrical shape, such as the torque device 900 shown in FIG. 1, which has a cylindrically shaped body 905 which includes a lumen 907 with a sufficient diameter so as to allow a guidewire 100 to pass through. A cap 910 with an entry hole 912 connected to a lumen which extends through the cap (not shown), a tapered head 914, and a cylindrical portion 918 which affixes to the body 905 by means of corresponding threaded portions in the interior of the cylindrical portion 918 and the body 905. A series of ridges 916 are formed on the cylindrical portion 918 of the cap so as to assist in the threading process. The cylindrical portion 918 also houses a collet or other gripping means which includes a series of spindles which straddle the guidewire.
As the cap 910 and the body 905 are threaded together, the cap 910 and spindle are rotated with respect to each other, the threaded engagement of the spindle and cap causes the end of the spindles to advance along the bore within the cap 910, causing the spindles to close and tighten around the guidewire 100 so as to secure the guidewire 100. Once the cap 910 and the body 905 are threaded together and the guidewire 100 is secured, the operator manipulates the guidewire 100 by manipulating and rotating the cylindrical body 905 of the torque device 900. Reversing the direction for rotation between the cap 910 and the body 905 causes the spindles to release the grip on the guidewire 100.
This configuration contains various difficulties for an operator. For example, the torque device 900 requires two hands to properly secure the torque device 900 to the guidewire 100. Hence, as the guidewire 100 is positioned or traversed through a patient's body during a procedure, each time the guidewire 100 is advanced some distance, such as 2-8 cm, the operator is required to use both hands to loosen the cap 910 from the body 905 so that the cap 910 and the body 905 can be repositioned and subsequently reattached to the guidewire 100. This process is disadvantageous and time consuming because it requires the operator to relinquish control of the guidewire 100 as both hands are required to loosen and reattach the torque device 900 to the guidewire 100. This additional time results in additional time in performing the procedure, which in turn requires a patient to be sedated for longer periods of time, increases the amount of time required to perform the surgery, and reduces the ability to accurately control and place the guidewire.
Another disadvantage of the torque device 900 currently used in the art is that the cylindrical shape of the body 905 is uniform and offers only a limited amount of rotational control to an operator. Specifically, to rotate the torque device 900, and subsequently the guidewire, the operator “rolls” the body 905 back and forth between the operator's fingers and/or twisting the wrist. Such options realistically limit the ability to rotate the torque device greater than approximately 90 degrees.
Hence, in order to more accurately and effectively secure and manipulate a guidewire, improvements are needed in the design and operability of torque devices. The embodiments herein offer a torque device with a greater ability to secure and manipulate a guidewire. Although, the subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above, rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one exemplary technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.